Alternate title: a non-comprehensive list of things that are making me happy right now

Reading at the beach // Give me a book and the ocean, please and thank you, and all will be well. Also throw in some sunscreen. I went to Manhattan Beach with Bri and Cara last weekend and it was lovely. The sunburn though, not so much.

The US Women’s Soccer Team // Nothing has made me as inspired or proud or good or more myself than watching their celebrations the last few weeks. I know everything’s died down, but I’m still paying attention to them – and seeing them play in a few weeks!

Writing my newsletter, Three Things on Thursday // It’s often more than three things, and I don’t write it every week. But the weeks I do always make me happy. I love sharing things and having a place to compile things I love. (If you’re not on the list, you can subscribe here!)

Texts from good friends // There’s something special about getting an out-of-the-blue text from people that makes me happy.

Coffee // I gave up coffee during the week for a while there because I thought it was making my anxiety worse. But I’m happy to report that I changed some things in my life and had some hard conversations and my anxiety is so much lower now.

Fun Goodwill finds // I picked up a stack of romcoms, a NASA t-shirt, a t-shirt that’s the perfect gift for my sister, and a muffin tin that I sorely needed. I find it’s best to go in with an open mind and not look for anything specific, since you never know what you’ll find.

Picking up my novel again // I planned to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this month but life got away from me. I wrote for 20 minutes on Friday for the first time in 3 weeks and it felt awesome, like a reminder of “oh yeah, I do love this.”

Writing blog posts // It’s not that I ever mean to stop writing for weeks, but rather that life takes over and suddenly I haven’t posted a thing in three weeks. But I love writing here and it brings me joy.